Tamil Nadu Drops Rupee Symbol From Its Budget As Language Row Escalates

The Tamil Nadu government has dropped the rupee symbol from its state budget for financial year 2025-26 presented on Thursday, amid a raging language debate.

Instead of the '₹' symbol, the government used a symbol with Tamil letter for 'Ru' as budget logo, which is the beginning of the word Rubaai which is how rupee is pronounced in Tamil.

The new logo was part of a state pre-budget video posted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on his X handle on Thursday. The budget is set to be presented in the state assembly on March 14.

The replacement of rupee symbol in the budget video comes amid the Tamil Nadu-ruling DMK’s ongoing tussle with the BJP-led central government over the alleged "imposition of Hindi" through the National Education Policy 2020. The policy, which promotes a three-language format, has drawn sharp criticism from the DMK, which sees it as an attempt to undermine Tamil and enforce Hindi dominance.

Tamil Nadu’s resistance to Hindi is not new and dates back decades, but the NEP has reignited the row between the state government and the Centre.

On March 7, Stalin made a scathing remark against the Centre, saying that Tamil Nadu would not tolerate "Hindi colonialism" replacing British colonialism. He also accused Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan of provoking the state by insisting on Hindi acceptance.

Stalin, in a social media post, stated, "History is clear. Those who tried to impose Hindi on Tamil Nadu have either been defeated or later changed their stance and aligned with DMK. Tamil Nadu will not tolerate Hindi colonialism replacing British colonialism."

"From the names of schemes to awards to Union government institutions, Hindi has been imposed to a nauseating extent, suffocating non-Hindi speakers, who are the majority in India. Men may come, men may go. But even long after the dominance of Hindi is shattered in India, history will remember that it was DMK that stood as the vanguard," he wrote.